The present invention relates to a self-contained, portable cooling device generally used with body armor systems and other gear which may be resistant to explosion, chemical agents or biological agents while being thin, lightweight, and flexible to provide cooling and comfort to the person wearing the garment.
Body armor and other protective clothing systems, including vests worn by law enforcement officers, often use Kevlar(copyright) or other protective fibers, which may be coated in plastic, as a protective or projectile-resistant shield. The protective coatings and layers are necessary to assure the safe performance, but make the garment hot and uncomfortable to wear. This, in turn, decreases the mobility and, thus, the efficiency of the persons who wear them and acts as a deterrent to using protective garments and as a result, increases injuries and casualties. There have been several attempts to provide a more comfortable protective garment. For example, Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,666), teach a cooling device that can be incorporated into a person""s apparel to permit the transfer of water vapor from the wearer""s skin. Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,668), a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,113,666, teach a sealed garment containing a working fluid in an evaporation section of the garment, vaporization occurring by heat generated from the person wearing the garment. Parrish et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,695), a divisional of U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,668, teach cooling devices such as vests, pads or patches used in garments, including space suits, sealed hazardous material suits, and/or vests. All of these embodiments comprise a desiccant layer which is utilized in the storage of the water vapor resulting from the evaporation process.
Other examples may also be found in Scaringe et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,294), Szczesuil et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,164), Faghri (U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,369), Garner (U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,693), Koon et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,898,570), Coulon et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,645), Buckley (U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,482), and Benson (U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,864). All of the above are hereby incorporated by reference.
These cooling systems, however, remain heavy and uncomfortable to the wearer. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for a portable, lightweight, thin, and flexible garment which will provide more comfortable thermal conditions under the armor vest or other protective garment and would induce people to wear them as necessary, and thereby reduce the occurrence of preventable injuries and fatalities.
Many of these cooling systems require power to drive devices such as cooling fans, microheat pumps, or thermoelectric chillers and the like. Others rely on totally passive systems, which have a marginal performance and utilize extremely expensive carbon fibers that are very brittle and cannot long survive in a rugged environment. Many systems supply chilled water to a vest with flexible cooling tubes in an attempt to distribute the cooling potential uniformly across the body. However, most of these systems do not provide uniform temperature distribution and chill one part of the body more than the others, leading to discomfort. The user often turns off the system temporarily to recover, and then turns it back on. This is inefficient and may decrease the reliability of the system.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved flexible cooling system for primary use as a personal device for cooling personnel who may be required to wear protective garments such as projectile-resistant shields and vests, as well as garments designed to protect against chemical agents, biological agents, radioactive agents, explosions, and the like. The cooling device and protective shield or layer may be combined as layers in a cooled protective system. The subject invention would provide an ideal system for soldiers, race car drivers, hikers, police officers, firefighters, bomb squad technicians, and other personnel who may be exposed to hostile environments.
Further and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the description contained herein.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a thermal-battery capable, closed-cycle apparatus for cooling the living body of a wearer which comprises: a heat pickup body configured to cover at least a portion of a living body, the heat pickup body further comprising a flexible, impermeable contact foil configured to be in proximate contact with the living body, a liquid-permeable evaporator layer disposed in surface contact with the contact foil, porous liquid conduit means disposed within and throughout the liquid permeable evaporator layer for conducting a liquid therethrough and further comprising a first non-porous connection means for communicably connecting the porous liquid conduit means, a semi-rigid, gas-permeable gas conduit layer disposed in surface contact with the liquid permeable evaporator layer and further comprising a second non-porous connection means for communicably connecting the semi-rigid gas-permeable gas conduit layer, and a flexible, impermeable cover foil disposed in surface contact with the semi-rigid gas-permeable layer, the flexible impermeable contact foil, the liquid-permeable evaporator layer, the semi-rigid gas-permeable conduit layer, and the flexible, impermeable cover foil being sealed on all edges to prevent communication between each layer and atmosphere; a condenser, the condenser further comprising a chamber and being suitably configured so that the condenser may be disposed in thermal contact with a thermal battery for transferring heat from the condenser to the thermal battery, the chamber communicably connected to the first connection means and the second connection means so that the heat pickup body, first connection means, second connection means, and condenser form a continuous sealed system; and a heat pickup body evaporating fluid contained within the sealed system.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a thermal-battery augmented, closed-cycle apparatus for cooling a living body which comprises: a heat pickup body configured to cover at least a portion of a living body, the heat pickup body further comprising a flexible, impermeable contact foil configured to be in proximate contact with the living body, a liquid-permeable evaporator layer disposed in surface contact with the contact foil, porous liquid conduit means disposed within and throughout the liquid permeable evaporator layer for conducting a liquid therethrough and further comprising a first non-porous connection means for communicably connecting the porous liquid conduit means, a semi-rigid, gas-permeable gas conduit layer disposed in surface contact with the liquid permeable evaporator layer and further comprising a second non-porous connection means for communicably connecting the semi-rigid gas-permeable gas conduit layer, and a flexible, impermeable cover foil disposed in surface contact with the semi-rigid gas-permeable layer; the flexible, impermeable contact foil, the liquid-permeable evaporator layer, the semi-rigid gas-permeable conduit layer, and the flexible, impermeable cover foil being sealed on all edges to prevent communication between each layer and atmosphere; a condenser, the condenser further comprising a chamber and being suitably configured so that the condenser may be disposed in thermal contact with a thermal battery for transferring heat from the condenser to the thermal battery, the chamber communicably connected to the first connection means and the second connection means so that the heat pickup body, first connection means, second connection means, and condenser form a continuous, sealed system; a heat pickup body evaporating fluid contained within the sealed system; and a thermal battery, the thermal battery further comprising: an adsorption chamber, the adsorption chamber at least partially filled with an adsorptive media, an evaporation chamber, the evaporation chamber suitably configured so that the evaporation chamber may be disposed in thermal contact with the condenser, a closable throttle valve, the throttle valve being communicably connected between the absorption chamber and the evaporation chamber; the adsorption chamber, evaporation chamber, and throttle valve configured to form a sealed thermal battery system; and, a thermal battery evaporating fluid, the thermal battery evaporating fluid contained within the sealed thermal battery system.
In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a thermal-battery capable, closed-cycle body armor protective apparatus for protecting and cooling the living body of a wearer which comprises: a heat pickup body configured to cover at least a portion of a living body, the heat pickup body further comprising a flexible, impermeable contact foil configured to be in proximate contact with the living body, a liquid-permeable evaporator layer disposed in surface contact with the contact foil, porous liquid conduit means disposed within and throughout the liquid permeable evaporator layer for conducting a liquid therethrough, the heat pickup body further comprising a first non-porous connection means for communicably connecting the porous liquid conduit means, a semi-rigid, gas-permeable gas conduit layer disposed in surface contact with the liquid permeable evaporator layer and further comprising a second non-porous connection means for communicably connecting the semi-rigid gas-permeable gas conduit layer, and a flexible, impermeable cover foil disposed in surface contact with the semi-rigid gas-permeable layer, the flexible impermeable contact foil, the liquid-permeable evaporator layer, the semi-rigid gas-permeable conduit layer, and the flexible, impermeable cover foil being sealed on all edges to prevent communication between each layer and atmosphere; a condenser, the condenser further comprising a chamber and being suitably configured so that the condenser may be disposed in thermal contact with a thermal battery for transferring heat from the condenser to the thermal battery, the chamber communicably connected to the first connection means and the second connection means so that the heat pickup body, first connection means, second connection means, and condenser form a continuous sealed system; a heat pickup body evaporating fluid contained within the sealed system; and a protective shield disposed proximate to and covering at least a portion of the heat pick-up body for protecting the living body of the wearer from illness or injury due to a hazard such as projectiles, edged weapons, impacts and explosions, as well as heat, poisons, microbes, corrosive agents, or radiation.
In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a thermal-battery augmented, closed-cycle body armor protective apparatus for protecting and cooling the living body of a wearer which comprises: a heat pickup body configured to cover at least a portion of a living body, the heat pickup body further comprising a flexible, impermeable contact foil configured to be in proximate contact with the living body, a liquid-permeable evaporator layer disposed in surface contact with the contact foil, porous liquid conduit means disposed within and throughout the liquid permeable evaporator layer for conducting a liquid therethrough, the heat pickup body further comprising a first non-porous connection means for communicably connecting the porous liquid conduit means, a semi-rigid, gas-permeable gas conduit layer disposed in surface contact with the liquid permeable evaporator layer and further comprising a second non-porous connection means for communicably connecting the semi-rigid gas-permeable gas conduit layer, and a flexible, impermeable cover foil disposed in surface contact with the semi-rigid gas-permeable layer, the flexible impermeable contact foil, the liquid-permeable evaporator layer, the semi-rigid gas-permeable conduit layer, and the flexible, impermeable cover foil being sealed on all edges to prevent communication between each layer and atmosphere; a condenser, the condenser further comprising a chamber and being suitably configured so that the condenser may be disposed in thermal contact with a thermal battery for transferring heat from the condenser to the thermal battery, the chamber communicably connected to the first connection means and the second connection means so that the heat pickup body, first connection means, second connection means, and condenser form a continuous sealed system; a heat pickup body evaporating fluid contained within the sealed system; and a thermal battery, the thermal battery further comprising: an adsorption chamber, the adsorption chamber at least partially filled with an adsorptive media, an evaporation chamber, the evaporation chamber suitably configured so that the evaporation chamber may be disposed in thermal contact with the condenser, a closable throttle valve, the throttle valve being communicably connected between the absorption chamber and the evaporation chamber; the adsorption chamber, evaporation chamber, and throttle valve configured to form a sealed thermal battery system; and, a thermal battery evaporating fluid, the thermal battery evaporating fluid contained within the sealed thermal battery system; and a protective shield disposed proximate to and covering at least a portion of the heat pick-up body for protecting the living body of the wearer from illness or injury due to a hazard such as projectiles, edged weapons, impacts and explosions, as well as heat, poisons, microbes, corrosive agents, or radiation.